Chapter 535: Backward Agricultural Country
The construction of a port requires a long time to prepare and will affect operations in the short term, so the British plan is not feasible for the time being. Moreover, they are working hard to build the Port of Maputo, and Ernst is not very kind to wonder whether it will cost East Africa a bargain in the end.
Similarly, Britain and Portugal also thought that the ports in East Africa would eventually become their own assets, but the risks were quite high anyway.
…
The beginning of 1880.
The census work in East Africa continued, and the approximate population data of East Africa was also available. In 1879, the total population of immigrants and newborns in East Africa was about 34.72 million, and the number of blacks was 19.62 million.
Adding the two together, the total population of East Africa is around 54 million, which is more than the United States, Germany and other countries.
Of course, East African blacks are generally not counted as part of the population, but they have definitely made huge contributions to the construction of East Africa, and this is indelible.
The population of East Africa (including blacks) exceeds 50 million, which meets the definition of a populous country in the previous life. It is also the fourth most populous country in the world after the Far Eastern Empire, the British Empire, and Tsarist Russia.
If black people are removed, the total population of East Africa exceeds that of Japan, is equivalent to the total population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is slightly lower than that of Germany. Now the population of East Africa is sufficient to be competitive with major countries in the world.
"In this era, the life expectancy of most people is relatively short. The average life expectancy in the world is approximately between 30 and 40 years old. Although we in East Africa have actively played a role in continuously reducing the pressure and burden on the population, the average life expectancy is only around 35 years old, which is basically the world average." Health Minister Bell Ryder reported to the government.
"The main reason for the high mortality rate in East Africa is disease. Our Ministry of Health has the most say in this. This is especially true for the immigrant population in East Africa. Many of them have accumulated certain hidden injuries in their early years. When they arrive in East Africa, they will experience torture at sea and may even contract diseases such as malaria. Therefore, it is indeed common for people to die young. However, this is no different between us and other countries."
"We lack medical resources, especially doctors, but we have sufficient preparations for some necessary medicines with unified standards, such as quinine and anti-inflammatory drugs. In particular, traditional Chinese medicine has provided strong support for the early state construction in East Africa and met the needs of grassroots medical staff and doctors."
"The birth rate in East Africa has also hit a new high, but it is also accompanied by a high infant mortality rate. The good news is that the climate in East Africa is stable, so generally there won't be too many problems when giving birth. The bad news is that we lack children's vaccines and other means to improve the survival rate of newborns."
Bellred was a bit greedy in this regard. Most countries in the world do not have the conditions to provide such protection for newborns, not to mention countries like East Africa that are extremely short of medical talents.
"East Africa's population is generally young, which is better than most countries in the world. In particular, the number of black people has shared most of the losses of important national projects. This is a major prerequisite for ensuring social stability and citizen health in East Africa."
"However, the downward trend in the number of black people has also slowed down. First, the implementation of many of our important projects has retained a considerable portion of the black population. Second, the decline in external demand. After the baptism of a long-term economic crisis, the consumption level of many countries has declined."
"In recent years, the black population has actually decreased by more than four million. You know, we occupied part of the Portuguese territory last year. According to normal rules, the black population should have increased, but the overall number of blacks in East Africa is still greatly reduced. However, compared with our previous direct use of war and other methods to drive away and reduce the number of blacks, this is still less efficient."
"The demand for black people in East Africa has increased, especially for national projects. If we want to develop the entire country's land in a short period of time, there is only one way, and that is to add human lives. This life cannot be you or me, let alone the people of East Africa, so it can only be black people."
"So many of these black people will not be sold, but will die directly on the land of East Africa, so we must also be prepared for this, especially cremation and other procedures are essential."
This does not count as destroying evidence. After all, ordinary people in East Africa are cremated after death. This is a mandatory requirement of the health department.
"The agricultural population accounts for more than 85 percent of the country, and the total population in industry, commerce, military, transportation, etc. is less than five million, which shows that East Africa is still a backward agricultural country."
"Last year, agricultural tax revenue accounted for about 80 percent of government revenue, and with the increase in population, inland development, improved agricultural tools and increased production efficiency, there is still room for further improvement in agricultural tax revenue in East Africa."
"In the national fiscal revenue, especially in the export-oriented economy, the export contribution of tropical cash crops accounts for more than 60%. However, we also encounter some problems, one is logistics, the other is storage. Many cash crops, especially fruits and vegetables, require shorter time and better storage and preservation technology."
"In the national economic statistics of 1879 (excluding the Hexingen consortium), heavy industry accounted for 75 percent of the national industry, especially steel and railways, which contributed greatly, and also promoted the development of mining and other industries. The light industry developed at a slow pace and was still dominated by traditional handicraft workshops."
East Africa seems to have followed the old path of the Soviet Union, but there are no negative effects in the current environment. The proportion of heavy industry is just too large in the proportion of East Africa's industry. In fact, East Africa is an agricultural country. As long as the process of East Africa's transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country continues, everything will be under control.
"So in summary, after 15 years of development, East Africa has entered a new stage. We are now a normal country and our population shortcoming has been made up. However, we have also encountered new problems, that is, East Africa, as a backward agricultural country, is actively seeking to transform into an industrial country."
The so-called normal countries in East Africa are the same as the vast majority of countries in the world. It took East Africa fifteen years to achieve this. Although slavery still exists, this problem will definitely be solved within the next 20 to 30 years.
In addition to the various initiatives in East Africa, the most important thing is that it is impossible for black people in East Africa to live that long. The average life expectancy of black people is only in their twenties, less than thirty years old. Therefore, even if East Africa does nothing now, black people will naturally die out in more than 20 years.
Facts have proved that people's lower limit will continue to decline. At the beginning, Ernst was still relatively immature and wanted to send black people out of East Africa, and die in other countries. Now, in order to meet the needs of population dividend for development, East Africa has thrown away most of its fig leaf.
The number of black people dying in East Africa is increasing year by year, especially in large-scale construction projects, which are almost entirely dependent on manpower, while medical care cannot keep up, so the death rate of black people remains at a high level.
But at the end of the century, Ernst still wanted to add more responsibilities to the black people in East Africa, especially in the development and construction of projects in some harsh areas, which required the blood and sweat of these black people.
For example, transportation projects in mountainous areas such as Hesse Province can now be completed using cheap black people, which can save a lot of time in the future.
Some projects must be completed manually, so we should take advantage of the lowest labor costs in East Africa to arrange most of the infrastructure. In the future, we will only need to check for deficiencies and carry out daily maintenance.
(End of this chapter)
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